


As Roots into Warm Soil

by LadyThrimbletrimmer



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/F, Gruulfriends - Freeform, Light Dom/sub, Liliana is a sub who thinks she's a dom, POV Third Person Omniscient, Praise Kink, Self-Discovery, Trans Chandra Nalaar, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-10-31 19:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17855894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyThrimbletrimmer/pseuds/LadyThrimbletrimmer
Summary: Those who claim to want power actually want agency over their lives.Centuries of convincing yourself that you're a domme makes for a lot of confusion and misplaced anger when someone sees through the disguise. And when they can also control vines, that just further complicates things.The specifics won't really come up, but suffice to say this is set in an alternate canon where Bolas is not a factor.





	1. Board Game Night

Summer on Ravnica was tolerated, not enjoyed. True, the plane had festivals and fairs and shopping opportunities unrivaled in the multiverse, but none of it could completely distract from the heat. Even the chill that clung to Liliana’s presence as a habit of necromancy could not insulate her from the torrid city. She would have planeswalked away by now, were it not for...

 

A knock came at the door. “Hi Liliana!”

 

“It’s open,” she called back from her seat on the balcony. The thunder of boots across her clean floor would be unmistakable even if the voice wasn’t. 

 

“Board games!” said Chandra, her face a signal flare of triumph and expectation.

 

“Board games,” echoed Liliana, smiling. Chandra could be exhausting, but she was the only member of the Gatewatch whose company Liliana enjoyed. Keeping it that way meant things like ‘board game night.’ And she would never admit it, but the apartment felt empty whenever Chandra cancelled to go on dates with-

 

_ Oh. _

 

An elf was hesitating in the doorway, her arms around a paper grocery bag that apparently contained an assortment of fruit.

 

“I invited Nissa to join us tonight, hope that’s okay,” said Chandra, dumping a stack of brightly colored boxes onto the table. “A lot of these are better with multiple players anyway.”

 

_ Two is multiple, _ said some venomous fang in her mind’s jaw. Liliana shrugged it off, and turned to give the elf a sinister smile. “It won’t bother me. Are you able to brave the terrors of my abode, Miss Revane?”

 

Nissa made her mouth smile.  _ Liliana is making a joke out of me being scared to enter her apartment, which means that it is safe _ . “Thank you. Chandra was very excited for this.” 

 

Chandra nodded with vigor, her face almost entirely covered in grin. “So to start us off, I picked up a copy of pachisi last time I visited Mom...”

 

...

 

The afternoon crept into evening. Half of the games had been hastily returned to their boxes as Chandra eagerly opened fresh ones, Liliana’s wine bottle was nearly depleted, and Nissa had barely spoken except to ask Chandra about rules. It was entirely too pleasant. As if on cue, the chittering faerie of self-sabotage crept its way into Liliana’s voicebox.

 

“So Nissa, have you and Chandra been getting along?”

 

Chandra turned to look at Liliana, suspicious. Nissa simply nodded. “Yes, we’ve been spending a lot of time together. It has been... very nice.”

 

“I bet,” says Liliana, smirking.

 

“You should see her paintings,” continued Nissa. She thought of a long day spent watching flowers bloom on the easel. What her girlfriend lacked in botanical accuracy was more than compensated for in emotion.

 

Chandra, midway through a massive bite of pear, nearly choked. “No she shouldn’t!” 

 

“Oh?” Liliana turned, her eyebrow halfway to her scalp. “Something you don’t want me to see in there, Chandra? Maybe something featuring your girlfriend here?”

 

“What? No, they’re just really bad.” Chandra thought for a moment. “Actually, Nissa, could I try painting a picture of you sometime?”

 

“If that makes you happy,” said Nissa. 

 

The elf’s voice was bright sunshine too early in the morning. Liliana clawed at the curtain. “With or without her robes?”

 

The temperature in the room increased several degrees as crimson blossomed across Chandra’s face. She took up a vigorous interest in organizing her game pieces. “We, ah, that is, it’s not-”

 

“Really, Chandra?” Liliana laughed. “You surprise me, refraining for so long from horizontal refreshment.”

 

The table made a soft hollow sound as Chandra’s head hit it. Nissa looked from Liliana to Chandra and back again, her expression blank. “My apologies, but I am missing something. Is... is painting pictures of each other a courtship ritual among humans?”

 

“No,” came Chandra’s muffled voice.

 

“Sometimes,” said Liliana, shrugging. “Mostly I’m just marvelling that Chandra hasn’t asked you to sleep with her.”

 

“Oh, we often sleep together,” said Nissa. “She is very warm, we rarely need a blanket.”

 

“Not like that, babe.” Chandra raised her head up to stare at the ceiling, her hands clasped as if in prayer. “Lily’s asking if we’ve ever... y’know. Done it. Which, yes, we haven’t, if you have to friggin’ know,” she said with a stern glare at Liliana. 

 

“That’s a pity,” said Liliana. “I encourage you to get the vanilla out of the way so you’ll be ready for the interesting stuff.”

 

“What’s interesting?” Nissa’s wide eyes under furrowed brow swung between the two women as if watching Izzet rocket tennis. 

 

It gave Liliana no small satisfaction to see Nissa so desperately lost. “Oh, lots of things. Leather and chains and whips- fairly standard stuff, but the classics are classic for a reason. We called it ‘painlove’ when I was younger, I imagine the terminology varies.”

 

“This is... a thing that couples do?”  _ What kind of person would hurt someone they care about,  _ thought Nissa. _ Or is it that someone asks to be hurt? _

 

“Some couples, yeah,” said Chandra. “I never saw the point of that stuff.”

 

“The point, dear Chandra, is the thrill. The danger. The surrender of power to someone else, knowing you are at their mercy.” Liliana took a sip from her empty glass. “And trust, of course.”

 

“Trust,” repeated Nissa, grasping for something that she understood. She turned to her girlfriend. “I do trust you, Chandra.”

 

A dopey grin spread across the pyromancer’s face, and the bright red turned pink. Liliana pretended not to roll her eyes. “You two would both make fine subs, I imagine.”

 

“Hey I could totally be a dom!” Chandra said, offended. 

 

“Of course you could,” said Liliana, turning back to the game. “Whose turn was it?”

 

“Yours,” said Nissa. “And I still do not understand. Could you teach me, Liliana?”

 

That was not the reaction Liliana had anticipated, but she had not gotten this far in life letting people know when she was surprised. “Are you sure you want to skip to my neck of the woods? It can make everything else seem... plain.”

 

“You said it is what couples do,” said Nissa, “so Chandra and I should try it.”

 

“Nissa, we don’t have to do that sort of thing if we don’t want to.”

 

The elf turned back to Chandra. “You can tell me if this is making you uncomfortable.”

 

“Uh,” said Chandra. “I mean, I guess I’m a little curious. but I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything that you don’t wanna.”

 

“Taking risks is part of life, and Liliana says that it is enjoyable.” Nissa’s green eyes were fixed on the necromancer. “I would like to learn more.”

 

“Hmm. I don’t have any toys here with me, but perhaps we can improvise.” Liliana stood up and walked to one of the columns that decorated the threshold to her balcony. “Can you grow some vines here, Nissa?”

 

“Of course,” said the animist. She closed her eyes and muttered to herself for a moment. Vegetation crept up from the side of the apartment building towards Liliana.

 

“This’ll do,” said the necromancer. She was getting excited, presumably because it had been so long. “Now, wrap the vines around me and this post so that I can’t move away from it. Do be careful not to crush me, I can’t imagine your girlfriend would be happy about that.”

 

“I understand.” The vines crept up around Liliana’s dress, loosley wrapping around the column.  _ Good start but she needs to be less gentle to get the intended response   _ was how Liliana rationalized the instinct that screamed  _ Tighter! _

 

“Is there more I should be doing?” asked Nissa.

 

“Yes,” said Liliana, her voice emphatically not wavering. “You need to talk. Tell the sub what you’re going to do to them, that you own them, that they’re a bad girl who needs to be punished.”

 

“Is that it?” said Nissa, “is it the same for everyone?”

 

“Well, no,” said Liliana.  _ Why all these questions? _ “You can personalize it if you want, but you’re trying to flaunt how much power you have over the person submitting to you.”

 

“Power,” said Nissa, almost as if it was a foreign concept to her.  _ What does it mean to be powerful? Is a baloth powerful because is can smash through trees, even if a germ can kill it? Is a river powerful because it can carve out a canyon, even if it does not choose to do so? _

 

Nissa looked to Liliana. The necromancer thought of herself as powerful because she could make corpses move, and that enabled her to do... what? Liliana frightened people, and used that to control her interactions with them.  The dead bodies were only important in the context of the living ones. 

 

_ So to have power over Liliana,  _ thought Nissa,  _ I should not do what she wants. _

 

“Nissa? You okay?” Chandra waved at her from the edge of her vision.

 

“I am fine.” The animist strode toward the column as her vines still slowly spiraled around it, creeping up to the ceiling. Liliana gave her a languid smirk. Nissa held one hand up to Liliana’s face and gently caressed her cheek.

 

“Good girl, Liliana.”

 

The smirk dropped for a moment before reappearing. “Is that really the harshest you can be, Nissa?”

 

“No. I understood your instructions, and I will not be following them. You are not in charge here, Liliana. I am, and I say that you are a good girl.”

 

The smirk was gone now. Nissa continued, “I am grateful to you for being there for Chandra, for your aid in battle, and for your explanation of how to use authoritative presence in a romantic context. In return, I release you from your need for control.” 

 

Nissa saw Liliana’s hands twitch, which she took as an encouraging sign. “Do not struggle,” she continued, “I am not finished.” Nissa stroked Liliana’s hair for a moment as she collected her thoughts. “Your beauty may be the result of enchantment, but it nonetheless striking, and you are adept at accentuating it with your manner of dress. You are the most socially adept member of the Gatewatch, able to commandeer conversations with grace. And your magical abilities demonstrate considerable willpower and intellectual rigor. You are a remarkable person, Liliana Vess, underneath all the barriers constructed around your self. You could not hide what I see in you, not even if you buried it in the deepest tombs of Innistrad. You are a good girl.”

 

Like a wave of icy water, necrotic magic blasted from the column and knocked Nissa to the floor. The vines, which had barely crested the capital, shriveled and turned brown before collapsing into dust.

 

“What the  _ fuck  _ is wrong with you!” shrieked Liliana, magic pouring from her in swirling purple clouds.

 

“I did not mean to hurt you,” said Nissa, fumbling to sit up. 

 

Chandra bounded down from the stairs to hunch over Nissa, glaring at Liliana. “This was just supposed to be fun, Lily.”

 

“Don’t call me that _ , _ ” Liliana spat back. “And what, I’m supposed to just stand here and take that... whatever the hell that was?!”

 

“She was complimenting you! For Jaya’s sake, do you just not know what being nice is?”

 

Liliana scowled, and pointed a finger at the couple. “Do. Not. Mock. Me. Either of you. Just because you have your whole lovey-dovey...  _ thing, _ it doesn’t mean I have to listen to whatever asinine jokes you try to make at my expense.” She turned away. “I’ll see you both at the next meeting. Do not be here when I return.”

 

With that, Liliana planeswalked away. 

 

Chandra helped Nissa to her feet. Silently they collected their belongings and made their way out of Liliana’s apartment, into the streets of Ravnica.


	2. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liliana tries to warm up.

“Oh hey, Chandra, we’re going to have a meeting at noon. Could you let Nissa know?”

 

“I’m actually heading out right now. Gotta talk to Liliana about something. See you there.”

 

* * *

 

For the second time in two days, Chandra walked up the steps towards Liliana’s apartment. She glanced at the note in her hand, unsure what more information she expected to glean from it.

 

Somberly, the pyromancer pushed open the door. Morning sunlight was visible on the far wall only at the bottom of the dark blue curtains. An

 

“I see you got my message.” Liliana smiled, as though yesterday had never happened. “Say what you like about the Dimir, they’re efficient.”

 

“It creeped me out, to be honest.”

 

“Life’s no fun without a bit of drama,” said Liliana touching a match to one of the many candles cluttering her boudoir.

 

“Why did you ask me here, Liliana?” 

 

“I wanted to apologize for my little tantrum. I’m not used to giving up control, and when Nissa rejected my advice I took it the wrong way. I’ll apologize to her tomorrow, but I wanted to talk to you alone first.”

 

Chandra crossed her arms and frowned. She had been planning more of a talking-to at Liliana, but this had taken the aether out of her train. “I see. So, was that everything?”

 

“Not quite.” Liliana sat down on the bed. “I left before you could take your turn at being in charge. If you like, we can make it up now.”

 

Chandra swallowed. “We. Uh. I mean, I’m not saying no, but we have a meeting with the others soon.

 

“Oh, well, I understand if you’re not interested...”

 

“It’s not that!” As Chandra spoke, an unlit candle near the doorway began gently curving towards her. “We, uh, we have an hour or so.”

“Excellent,” smirked Liliana. “Close the door, would you?” Chandra obeyed, discreetly wiping a speck of drool from the corner of her mouth.

 

Liliana selected a plain white candle and removed it from its holder. “Now, call this a little obvious, but wax play seems right up your alley.” She held out the candle. Chandra stared at it.

 

“I, uh, I don’t want to mess this up,” said Chandra, wheels visibly turning in her head, “but it sounds like you want me to, um, take that candle...”

 

“Yes.”

 

“...And- stop me if I’m wrong- and drip wax on you?”

 

“That would be the idea, yes.”

 

“Won’t that hurt?”

 

“Yes,” said Liliana, “it will hurt, dear. The point is that you are hurting someone in a controlled, consensual, and above all *romantic* way.”  

 

“Okay, just, like, stop me if I mess this up,” said Chandra, taking the candle. With a quick, almost effortless motion she ignited the tip. “So, what do I... uhhh...” She trailed off as Liliana began untying the cords of her gown. 

 

At that pause the necromancer glanced back at Chandra and gave a slight smirk. “I can’t go around with burn marks showing, and it’s too hot for gloves.” Liliana turned around and let her dress fall down to her waist, letting Chandra get an eyeful of her back as she strode into the kitchenette. “Do try not to drip on my dress.”

 

Chandra followed Liliana into the kitchen, trying not to turn the candle in her hand to goo as she watched the necromancer lay face-down on the table.

 

“Uh, I should talk to you too, right?”

 

“Oh, yes. I’ll try to be a bit more careful, since this is where we went wrong last time,” said Liliana, turning back to face the pyromancer. “There’s an element of theater to this act, based on the pretense of the dominant party inflicting punishment for some misdeed.”

 

Chandra bristled at Liliana’s tone. “I know that much. I’ve read books and stuff.”

 

“As you were, then.” Liliana returned to a more comfortable position.

 

Chandra stepped forward. She brushed aside the necromancer’s long black hair, exposing pale skin tinged with purple. Her legs wobbled slightly as blood rushed towards her waist.  _ Calm down, you, this is awkward enough already, _ she thought. She tried to remember the advice Liliana had given Nissa the previous evening.

 

“Uh. You’ve been a bad girl, Liliana,” Chandra began, awkwardly. She could feel the other woman’s infuriating smirk from the other side of her face. “Very bad. You hurt Nissa’s feelings, and you ended board game night before we got to play  _ Investigation. _ So I have to punish you?” 

 

She hadn’t meant for that last line to be a question, but Liliana dutifully answered, “Of course, Miss Nalaar,” which made the candle in Chandra’s hand wobble. Slowly she maneuvered it over Liliana’s bare flesh, keeping one hand underneath the candle to catch any droplets. With caution born from a mix of terror and excitement, Chandra let a single dollop of liquid wax pour from the pool under the flame.

 

Liliana gave a sharp intake of breath. “Up! Up!” Then, remembering who she was talking to, clarified “Raise the candle higher so that the wax has time to cool a bit more as it falls.”

 

Chandra, in the middle of moving the candle to a position higher on Liliana’s back, paused for just a moment to process the instruction. “Oh, fuck, sorry about that. Thanks for telling me.”

 

“It’s okay, Miss Nalaar,” said Liliana, clumsily trying to recapture the momentum. “I, uh, deserve to be hurt for what I did.”

 

“What? Oh, right, sorry. Uh, yes, you deserve this,” said Chandra. Readjusting her position, she let another drop of wax fall. Liliana took another breath, this one calmer and slower. There was pain, yes, but slow, deliberate,  _ intimate _ pain, the kind that invigorated on a deeper level than a fresh cup of coffee.

 

“Was that better?” whispered Chandra, anxious.

 

“Much better,” replied Liliana, “but don’t lose the performance.”

 

“Okay. Uh, so... Vess? Yeah. So, Vess, are you sorry for what you did?”

 

“Yes, Miss Nalaar.”

 

A third drop of wax hit Liliana’s back, more startling than painful. “Say you’re sorry.”

 

“I’m sorry, Miss Nalaar.”

 

_ Drip  _ “Again.”

 

“I’m sorry, Miss Nalaar!”

 

_ Drip  _ “One more.”

 

“I’m so, so sorry for what I did!”

 

“Good.” Chandra blew out the candle. “So how do we clean up all this?”

 

“What?” Liliana turned around, and Chandra’s eyes widened before she snapped them to the ceiling. “That’s all?”  _ We can’t possibly be done already. _

 

“We’ve got to go to the Gatewatch meeting,” said Chandra, intensely focused on a small crack in the plastar.

 

“Oh. Of course.” Liliana deflated. “There’s a towel in the bowl of water on the counter. Could you take care of the cleanup?” She gestured vaguely in the direction of her lower back.

 

“Sure thing.” 

 

Chandra brought the towel to the table and started dabbing at the dollops of wax, which had mostly hardened. It was abundantly clear that the necromancer was upset, when theoretically this should have been the exact outcome she had planned.

 

“What did you really want out of this, Liliana?”

 

Before Liliana could stop herself, honesty came pouring out. “I wanted to prove myself. That I know what I’m doing. That I have this under control. That she’s not better than me.”

 

“Did you- So when you got upset, was it actually because you liked what Nissa was doing?”

 

Liliana glared. “Don’t tell her.”

 

Chandra laughed for a moment, then her face fell as she saw her friend’s anger. “Sorry, it’s just- why get so worked up over enjoying yourself? Isn’t that the point of what we’re doing here, having some fun?”

 

From her position on the table, Liliana rolled her eyes. Chandra could be such a child at times.

 

“Well, you seem to have a handle on this. Are we done?”

 

“Not yet.” The warmth that usually emanated from the pyromancer grew as a toothy grin spread across her face. “I don’t think I’m finished with you, Miss Vess.”

 

“That’s cute, Chandra, but we both know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt your little flower girl.”

 

“True. You know, when you left in a huff, Nissa and I spent all evening trying to figure it out.” Chandra idly lit a flame on her right pointer finger. “We talk about a lot of things, especially her life on Zendikar. Did you know that the Joraga elves forbid music?” The pyromancer slowly transferred the fire to her left hand. “And something else they don’t have? Monogamy. 

 

“Nissa doesn’t *get* jealousy, she just sees it as one of those weird human things. So when I asked her about helping fix what made you so upset, she suggested we have sex.” The flame on Chandra’s finger burst into sparks that winked out in the draft.

 

Chandra leaned down to speak into Liliana’s ear, her voice low and controlled. “Are you surprised, Vess? That I have permission to do  _ whatever I want to you _ ?”

 

“Yes,” Liliana whispered.

 

“Would you stop me if I did?”

 

“... No.”

 

“Well said, Vess.” Chandra stroked the river of silky black hair. “Let yourself enjoy the moment. Everything you’re feeling is part of you, and rejecting it won’t help.” The redhead sat back up. “All right, I think I’ve got it. Thanks, Lil! See you at the meeting.” She turned towards the door.

 

“Wait, there’s the... uh... aftercare,” said Liliana, with noticeably less familiarity than she had displayed describing everything else. “The dominant needs to provide comfort and reassurance to the sub.”

 

“Okay,” said Chandra, “how do I do that?”

 

“Right now? Pour me a glass of wine.”

 

Chandra splashed a few ounces from a red bottle into a probably clean mug, and they sat together while Liliana drank. 

 

“You okay?” asked Chandra.

 

“Yeah,” replied Liliana. “I’ve actually just been thinking up new nicknames for Gideon. Have I already used ‘Crunch Beefslab’?”

 

* * *

 

Narset sat at the table in Jace’s meeting room. The other six planeswalkers seemed to be waiting for her to say something. 

 

“Nice to meet you?” she said. 

 

The man in the blue cloak stared at her, then looked back and forth between the armored man and Ajani. The woman with black hair rolled her eyes. The elf woman blinked. The person with red hair gave a small wave and a confused but friendly smile.

The armored man, Gideon, nodded at her. “Likewise. How can the Gatewarch help you, Miss Narset?” Behind his kind voice and in the glance he shared with the blue cloaked man, Narset could sense the same sort of impatience the Ojutai masters had felt when she first joined the monastery. Realization slowly dawned.

 

“I... suspect that I misunderstood something.” She glanced at Ajani, who coughed slightly. “I thought this was more of a... social gathering.” 

 

“It’s my fault,” said Ajani, “I should have been more clear with everyone.”

 

“It’s fine,” said Jace. “But yes, our purpose as an organization is to combat multiplanar threats, not to make friends.”

 

“We could probably do both,” said Chandra. “Nissa and I wanted to go see some Gruul folk performances.” She turned to her girlfriend. “Would it be okay if Narset came along?”

 

“I... I don’t see why not,” said Nissa, softly.

 

“So I think we can adjourn this meeting,” said Jace, looking at the doorway where Lavinia was scowling at him with an armful of papers. 

 

“Apologies for the misunderstanding,” said Gideon to Narset. “And if you want, you’re welcome to join up.”

 

“It’s fine,” said Narset, trying not to mess things up more than she already had.

 

“Well come on, let’s go!” said Chandra, gesturing for Nissa and Narset to follow as she bounded for the door.

 

“Chandra, the Gruul might be a bit too intense for Narset,” said Ajani, following her. Narset, unsure where else to be, followed him. Nissa stood to do the same.

 

“Nissa, before you leave, could I have a word?”

 

The elf turned towards Liliana, fearful for a moment. Liliana’s expression, which Nissa found hard to read at the best of times, was particularly inscrutable.

 

“I spoke with Chandra this morning, and I had hoped she’d be backing me up when I spoke with you, but obviously that’s not feasible. At any rate, I am sorry for snapping at you last night. It was quite rude of me, and I will be more respectful in the future.”

 

Nissa nodded. “I’m sorry too, Liliana. I didn’t listen to your instructions, and it hurt your feelings. That won’t happen again.”

 

Liliana paused. “May I ask what you mean by that?”

 

“I don’t plan to continue exploring this type of lovemaking,” said the elf with a shrug. “There’s too much potential for harm, and I don’t want to damage my relationship with Chandra.”

 

The necromancer began to speak, then shrugged and leaned back in her char. “If that’s what you want. Although, full disclosure? As part of apologizing to Chandra, I let her get a taste of life on top. She seemed to enjoy herself. What will you say if she wants to try that with you?”

 

“Chandra?” Nissa touched a hand to her lips. This version better suited the world as she saw it. Chandra the wildfire, burning her way through Nissa’s forest... that made sense.

 

“Anyway, don’t let me keep you any longer. Go have fun,” said Liliana, strolling out of the room. 

 

She kept walking from the Guildpact office building out into the streets of Ravnica. Despite her calm demeanor, Liliana’s mind was buzzing. Idly she plucked a brochure from the stand of a Selesnya corner preacher.  _ I could use a spa trip. _

 

* * *

 

 

Striding through the door of a modest Conclave care center, Liliana presented the brochure to a white-robed centaur. “I was told that I could get a sample therapy session if I brought this here?” she said, smiling in a way that hinted at neither malice nor cooperation. Her meticulous ignorance soon opened the door to a small sauna.

 

_ Why *did* I start talking about painlove to the lovebirds? _ thought Liliana.  _ They didn’t need me messing with their relationship. _

 

_ But they brought their relationship into my space uninvited, _ she countered.  _ Turnabout is fair play and all that. _

 

_ The real question is why I reacted the way I did. _

 

_ I don’t want to think about that. _

 

_ That is demonstrably not an option. _

 

_ I got upset when Nissa didn’t listen to my instructions, that’s all. _

 

_ That’s enough to make me throw a hissy fit? _

 

_ No, it’s also that I don’t like her whole wide-eyed ‘Sowwy I was wacist and weleased the Eldwazi’ schtick, and how everybody else just falls over themselves to help her. She’s clearly capable of handling herself, just look at last night. _

 

_ What about last night? _

 

_ She’s... good. Damn good. The praise angle was inspired. I wanted more, and I couldn’t handle that. _

 

_ Am I a sub?   _ Liliana actually sat up straight at that thought, glaring at the haze above the coals.

 

_ Of course not. Submitting is for the weak and helpless who want someone else to make decisions for them. _

 

_ Who says? It’s not like I’ve ever had a particularly comprehensive conversation about this. And maybe Chandra was right- I should just do what I enjoy. _

 

_ What could I possibly have to learn from Chandra? She’s a child. _

 

_ Still, two hundred years is a long time to spend being in charge. Maybe it would be nice to let somebody else handle the heavy lifting.  _

 

_ But first, I should show those chickadees how it’s done.  _ Liliana smiled to herself and stood up to stride out of the sauna. 

 

The loxodon woman on the next bench watched her go, then breathed a sigh of relief that the scary lady was gone.


	3. Anatomical

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nissa struggles to figure out what she really wants.

Life on Ravnica always moved at a blur, at least as far as Nissa saw it. Bringing Narset and Ajani to the library, getting “sushi” at a Simic luncheonette, arriving at the Gruul embassy on the Rubblebelt fringe, all of that was blurred in the tangle of bodies and public transportation.

 

Then they had watched the show.

 

The beat of war-drums, the roaring voice of the shaman, the pounding feet of the crowd, all should have been too much for Nissa. Yet with her hand entwined with Chandra’s, there was no fear, no panic, no urgent need to escape. She was  _ with  _ them, the crowd of humans, goblins, ogres, all of them, and together they rode a great wave of incandescent feral joy.

 

And now she and Chandra stumbled together along the Tenth District street, each with one arm around the other. Supposedly the purpose of this was to steady each other’s walks, but the result was rather the opposite.

 

“Smash! Smash! Smash!”

 

Giddy chanting signaled the stumbling trail that Chandra and Nissa took through the Chambers of the Guildpact, devolving into laughter as they burst into Chandra’s bedroom.

 

“That was so cool!” yelled Chandra.

 

“RAAAAHHH,” Nissa agreed. As one they fell onto the bed, arms still entangled. 

 

The cloud of adrenaline reduced the two women to giggles every time they made eye contact. Nissa wrapped her arms around Chandra, resting her head on the pyromancer’s chest. Her girlfriend’s heart thumped, the gallop of an ibex in the meadow. 

 

They lay like that for some time, letting the Gruul war-beats calm a little more with each deep breath.

 

“God this is nice,” said Chandra. “I feel like I could do anything right now.”

 

Unbidden, some Liliana-shaped part of Nissa’s mind made its presence known. 

 

“Like what?” asked Nissa.

 

“I don’t know, something cool. Like I could fistfight a baloth.”

 

“Well, would you like to do some ‘painlove’ with me?”

 

Chandra spluttered a handful of stupid-sounding non-words before settling on “What made you bring that up?”

 

“Liliana mentioned that you two tried some this morning. Did you enjoy it?”

 

Some of the confident energy had drained from Chandra’s face as pink crept into her cheeks. “Yeah. It was kinda weird, but I had fun. I think she liked it more than she wanted to talk about. So you want to try out me doing that stuff to you?”

 

Nissa nodded. “Exploring is how we learn, and I want to learn what makes you happy.”

 

“Okay,” said Chandra, her mind racing. Dominating her girlfriend was an enticing prospect, but the candles felt incorrect for Nissa. “Uh, let me figure something out.”

 

_ What can I do that isn’t wax, _ thought Chandra.  _ I don’t have to hurt Nissa, we’re just playing pretend. _

 

The notion of ‘play’ quickly blossomed into an idea. “They have dogs on Zendikar, right?”

 

Nissa tilted her head at Chandra. “...Yes?”

 

“Can you be a dog for me, Nissa?” Chandra’s eyes sparkled.

 

“What kind of dog?”

 

The moment was slipping. “Uh, just pick one. We’re going to pretend that you’re my dog.”

 

“Okay.” Nissa slipped off the bed and crouched down on the floor. “Now what?”

 

“Well first we- babe, you look more like a bandar doing that”

 

“Do I?” The elf looked back at her own body. “No, do you see, I am balancing on the balls of my feet rather than the heel. This positions my leg in a way analogous to the hind-”

 

“I just meant get on your hands and knees, Niss.”

 

“Oh. I am sorry.” Nissa shifted position. This would certainly be more comfortable, if less accurate.

 

Chandra crouched down next to Nissa, smiling at her. “Hey, are you a good girl, Nissa? Huh? Who’s a good girl?”

 

“hOOrff!” the elf barked. She hoped that her impression of a Sea Gate Bullmastiff was accurate, it had been some time.

 

“Okay Nissa, sit!”

 

Nissa leaned back into a kneeling position. This was not sitting, strictly speaking, nor was it the way dogs ‘sat,’ but she had already spoiled the moment once.

 

“Good girl! Now shake!” Chandra held out her hand, and Nissa placed a ‘paw’ in it.

 

“Okay. Down!” This was getting easier for Nissa. She lowered her head, stretching her arms out in front of her.

 

“Roll over!” She did so, and began ‘panting’ to demonstrate enthusiasm.

 

“Good girl!” Chandra leaned forward and began giving Nissa a tummy rub. “Who’s a good girl, huh? Who’s my favorite puppy?”

 

“Is it me?”

 

“...Yeah, Nissa, it’s you.”

 

“It pleases me to hear you say that, beloved.”

 

The pyromancer felt tears form in her eyes. Nissa smiled at her, that peaceful look of wisdom and content. Chandra bent over and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. “I love you so much, Nissa. Let’s just go to bed, I didn’t have anything else planned.”

 

“As you wish.” 

 

Yet as they crawled onto the bed, a single sheet enough blanket for the summer night, Nissa felt in her stomach that something was unfinished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter update this time, mostly just making it clear that this isn't abandoned (as of April 2019), but from a narrative perspective we're still relatively early in act 2.
> 
> Also, if anybody can suggest a better fantasy term for bdsm than 'painlove' then I would be really happy to hear it.

**Author's Note:**

> At first I wanted to balance the omniscient narrator between the characters, but Chandra doesn't hide anything and Liliana hides everything, so I opted to go for what made sense in the narrative flow. 
> 
> Also, "horizontal refreshment" is such a Liliana euphemism it makes my teeth hurt.


End file.
